A seasoned has peaked
Oh, the bounty coming forth
Look at that --- what to choose
















Grilled Eggplant and Whipped Feta Torta - serves 6
3-medium sized eggplant – peeled and cut into 1/2” rounds
1/2-pound Yukon gold potato
2 garlic cloves - crushed to a pasted
1/4-cup garlic chives
2 lemons - zest and juice
1/2-cup olive oil
1-pound Greek feta
Salt and pepper to taste

On a very hot grill cook the eggplant rounds to mark them nicely, and then transfer them to a baking tray. Brush the rounds with olive oil and finish cooking in a 350-degree oven until tender. This prevents the eggplants from getting too charred on the grill. Let the eggplants cool to room temperature.

Peel the potatoes and cook in boiling water until fork tender about 15 to 20 minutes. Place the potatoes on a baking tray and place in a 350-degree oven for 5 minutes to evaporate off any excess moisture. Mash the potatoes to smooth and set aside.

Place the garlic, chives, lemon, zest, olive oil, feta, salt and pepper in a food processor and blend until creamy. Mix the feta and potatoes together, by hand, to thoroughly incorporate. Correct seasoning.

To assemble place a slice of eggplant on a plate and place a heaping tablespoon of the feta mixture on top. Then place another eggplant on top of the feta cheese mixture, and
another heaping tablespoon of the feta cheese mixture. Place a third eggplant on top of this one. Serve with a dollop of multi-herb pesto.

Multi-Herb Pesto - yields approx. 3 cups
1 cup tightly packed watercress leaves
1 cup tightly packed Italian parsley leaves
1 cup tightly packed fino basil leaves
1/4 cup tightly packed thyme leaves
1/4 cup tightly packed oregano leaves
1/2 cup macadamia nuts - chopped (or blanched almonds or pine nuts)
4 to 5 garlic cloves - roughly chopped
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese - grated
3/4-cup olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Wash the herbs and dry. When plucking the leaves from their stems make sure you do not use any of the thicker woody stem as it will not blend up well. Place all ingredients in a food processor. Blend until still fairly coarse.

A summer day

So, I woke to a summer sky hidden behind a complete blanket of grey spitting warm droplets. I have been waiting most of the summer for a morning like this. The past few months it has been a quintessential start -- the skies have been dotted with lofty, wispy clouds on a background of the gentlest of blues. I will never take prefect, new days for granted for it is only too soon that autumn’s damp chill will be the standard.

I have been hoping for this moment all summer – the eight old in me has been waiting for it at least. It is a day to walk around, sans umbrella, getting soaked but not cold. It remains me of the summer days when I was a kid, and finally I would run the bases. On these ideal rainy days I’d enjoy a slide into home base getting covered in mud, and allowing the walk home to wash me clean – not necessary to my Mother’s pleasure.

The only thing that could take my giddiness to ecstasy would be the applause of thunder and lighting approving my juvenile romp. However, secured in my freezer are some cookies I made last week that totally speaks to the kid in me, and I guess I will just have a naughty afternoon drying out watching 1961’s Godzilla and cleaning up crumbs.














Summer’s Cookies – yields approx. 2-dozen
6-ounces unsalted butter
3/4-cups sugar
2-whole eggs
2-teaspoons vanilla extract
2-cups flour
2-teaspoons baking powder
1-teaspoon baling soda
1/4-teaspoon salt
8-ounces chopped white chocolate
1-pint raspberries
1-pint blackberries
In a standing mixer or using a hand-held beater whip the butter and sugar together until it is pale and fluffy. Then beat in the eggs one at a time, incorporating the egg before adding the next one. Mix in the vanilla.

Sift the flours, baking powder and salt together. Mix the sifted flour mixture into the butter to just combine. Then mix the white chocolate. Refrigerate the dough for an hour.

Pre heat the oven to 400 degrees.

On a parchment lined baking tray place a heaping teaspoon worth of the dough keeping at least two inches between the cookies. Gently flatten the cookies so they are about
1/4-inch thick. Then dot each cookie with four to five berries each. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the cookies to a cooling rack, and allow them to cool completely.

Panting.....

The dog days of August are definitely underway, but then it seems since summer's start this year we have had an extended period of the three “h’s”….hazy, hot and humid. I have gotten use to the perpetual clamminess of my skin and the curly-q dangling over my right eye – regardless have much gel I slather on.

I am downing liters of water a day timing my departure with a visit to the WC to make sure I will make to my next destination. I have sat with a bowlful of sorbet on my chest not sure if it is meant to be eaten or allow its radiant cool work with the opposite effect of a hot water bottle.

The market is filled this time of year with thirst quenching peaches, plums, ears of corn, and sugary blackberries and raspberries. The growing season of the dog days also offers the ultimate satisfying bite – watermelon. Filled to bursting capacity with water, sugar and icon seeds that immediately takes the edge off any droopy day.



Always look for a well-defined spot on its bottom for that is the indicator that this Kalahari Desert native has sat on the baking earth long enough to ripe. Then I hold it judging its heft for its size – water does give it weight. Then behold a fruit I refrigerate to a deep chill before slicing and commencing the seed-spitting contest.







Watermelon Salad – serves 6
3-cups diced watermelon (seeds discarded)
1 English cucumber – diced
1 small red onion – finely diced
3 scallions - minced
1 Serrano chili – minced (seeds discarded to lower heat)
1-tablespoon chopped thyme leaves
1 lime – zest and juice
1/4-cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a large bowl mix all the ingredients together, and then refrigerate to chill thoroughly before serving.

Old friend

There are times when you expect an old friend to pop back up in your life. Then there are those un-anticipated moments when a knock on the door reveals a face you have not seen in a long time returning from out of the blue. Irrespective, if that rap uncovers the anticipated or not, both deliver a rush of excitement.

A sense of history makes these rendezvous all the richer, and gives a framework from which to re-start a conversation. Of course, the key to a successful re-connection is moving the relationship forward, and integrating from the past into the present and hopefully, the future. Feasting on the past satisfies for a period, but ends up becoming stale all to quickly. All that came before while vital to working to create a complex life tapestry is but just a line on a panel that hopefully never gets completely finished.

I have been surprised in the last week from both sides of the coin. An old beau reached to rekindle a flame that petered out years ago – and I think I might actually offer a lighter to help that fire build. And, then, my favorite, dearest aunt arrived plump, and rosy. Aunt Ruby is hands-down my most desired tomato of any season. She is a green-skinned big, meaty girl that when ripe has a beautifully blushing bottom. Simplicity is key here sliced and drizzled with a bit of fruity olive and I am enraptured by her return.

Using it all

I am definitely resourceful. Well, perhaps with a singular focus for I am not a coupon clipper or all that motivated to find the best deals on a purchase. However, when it comes to the foods I nothing is thrown away before I consider its secondary or tertiary possibilities. Strawberry hulls and cherry pits get put in white wine vinegar to create a sweet, fruity component for future dressings. Herb stems will get bound up and then dangle in a soup pot to release their fragrance. Vanilla beans never get discarded rather they go in a jar of sugar to capture their seemingly spent perfume.

Corn gives me the greatest number of opportunities – creating high-fructose syrup not being on the list though. The kernels of course find their way directly into my mouth just simply tossed with diced tomato and torn lemon basil and I am a happy camper. Those cobs for some might seem only good for carving into a pipe, but for me I see a stock, tea or even an infusion for tequila cocktail. The husks can be dried (as long as you don’t live in as a humid city as I) or frozen for a Christmas tamale wrapping party, or used immediately as a protective, redolent with a sweetness jacket for grilled fish. This latter application also staves off that frustration that often occurs when you grill fish – it seems inevitable that it sticks to the grill surface. I am still trying to figure out what I can do the corn’s silkswhich seems like they only part that goes directly in the compost pile.


Seared Brook Trout – yields 6 servings
6 cleaned Brook trout
approx. 36 corn husks
3 - baby fennel
1-lemon thinly sliced
Salt and pepper to taste

In the cavity snuggle half a fennel and about 3 slices of lemon. Season the trout with salt and pepper.

Lay three husks down on the counter, just overlapping. Place a trout on top, and then cover with three more husks. Using cotton twine, secure the trout in three places along its length to secure the husks.

Pre-heat the oven to 400-degrees.

Heat a grill or cast iron cast too very hot over a high flame. Sear the trout, cooking about 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Transfer the trout to a baking tray and finishing cooking the trout in the oven for 10 minutes. Or, finish on the grill moving the fish over an in-direct heat source and cook for an additional 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven, and cut away the twine. Serve warm.

Saving Sorbet

Summer – sweltering
Slipping into the surf
Seeking an iceberg













Cantaloupe -Verbena Sorbet – yields approx. 3-1/2 quarts

1/2-cup verbena – roughly chopped
1-cup water
1-1/2 cups sugar
4-cups melon puree (from about 2-1/2 pound melon)






In a 2-1/2 cup saucepan bring the water, sugar and verbena to a boil, and reduce to simmer. Cook the verbena mixture for five minutes. Shut off, and allow the mixture to cool completely.

Strain the verbena into the melon puree, and mix. Pour into an ice cream maker, and proceed according to manufacture’s directions.

Store the sorbet in the freezer.

With a skip in my step

I am completely and hopelessly in love. Alas, I am not reporting about a budding romance between myself and another no, I am referring to my long-lasting relationship with summer. Early piercing light, temperatures that soar without the let down of a dip and the song of the morning cicadas all keep me love-drugged. Yes, okay, the humidity of the northeast is a bit of an annoyance, but is any relationship prefect?

I think I am an absolute sufferer of seasonal disorder for come winter I anticipate my spirit to deflate and my sleep pattern to shift. Until the earth changes its tilt I am up, running and perky. My markets seem to be mirroring my state – they are decorated brilliantly with reds, yellows, oranges and greens of my color wheel; shiny gems of summer’s bountiful cornucopia swollen by summer’s light, heat and rain. Everything seems to offer a great snap when bitten into – snap peas, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers and corn all greet my mouth with a coquettish crackle hello. Then following up their allure by releasing sweet seduction that further heightens the pleasure of a summer’s day.

I think that first anxious ray of the day is being spent directly to my bedroom window to make sure I am aroused – ready to start the day and visit the gallery of nature’s progeny, my farmer’s market.








Chopped Salad - yields 6 to 8

1/4 pound pancetta ( a pepper Italian bacon)
1 tablespon canola oil
1 ear of corn - husk and silk hairs removed
1 large red pepper - seeds and membrane removed
1/4-pound yellow wax beans - cut into 1/4 pieces
1 small red onion - diced
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup torn sorrel leaves
1/4 cup Kalamata olives - pitted
1 bunch spinach (approx 4 packed cups) - washed thoroughly and dried
2 cups cauliflower florets

Slice the pancetta into 1/2” long strips. Heat a sauté pan to hot and add the oil along with the pancetta. Cook the pancetta to crispy and then remove to an absorbent surface and reserve.

Cut the kernels of the corn from the ear. The corn is raw, so it should be as farm fresh as possible. Diced the red pepper, yellow wax beans and red onion into 1/2” squares. Roughly chopped the olives and spinach.

Blanch the cauliflower in boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes. They should still have a nice crunch. Refresh under cold water in order to stop the cooking process. Drain.

Toss all the ingredients together along with a approximately 1 cup of Italian dressing (recipe follows).

Italian Dressing - yields approx. 1-1/4 cups
1/4 cup White Wine Vinegar
2 tablespoon basil - leaves chopped
2 teaspoons thyme - leaves only, chopped
1 tablespoon oregano - leaves only, chopped
1 garlic clove - crushed to a paste
1/4-cup fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients together, except the oil. In a slow stream whisk in the oil until all is incorporated.